This blog follows the daily bible readings of the Catholic Church

Reading 1, Ezekiel 24:15-24

15 The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows,

16 ‘Son of man, at a blow I am about to deprive you of the delight of your eyes. But you are not to lament, not to weep, not to let your tears run down.

17 Groan in silence, do not go into mourning for the dead, knot your turban round your head, put your sandals on your feet, do not cover your beard, do not eat the usual food.’

18 I told this to the people in the morning, and my wife died in the evening, and the next morning I did as I had been ordered.

19 The people then said to me, ‘Will you not explain what meaning these actions have for us?’

20 I replied, ‘The word of the Lord has been addressed to me as follows,

21 “Say to the House of Israel, the Lord Yahweh says this: I am about to profane my sanctuary, the pride of your strength, the delight of your eyes, the joy of your hearts. Your sons and daughters whom you have left behind will fall by the sword.

22 Then you will do as I have done: you will not cover your beards or eat the usual food;

23 you will keep your turbans on your heads and your sandals on your feet; you will not lament or weep but will waste away for your crimes, groaning among yourselves.

24 Thus Ezekiel is a sign for you. You will do exactly what he has done. And when this happens, you will know that I am Lord!”

The shekinah (presence of God) weeps over destruction

Ezekiel’s wife has died and yet he is told to mourn in secret agony of spirit, which  will be a sign of the despair that the people will feel when Jerusalem and its temple are destroyed. He is an image of approaching anguish. But there’s just a hint that he’s also an image of the God who is bringing the disaster, as his love for his wife and God’s for his people, are put alongside each other. The sanctuary is not just Israel’s delight but God’s. The experience of God is bound up with the experience of his prophet and his people.

Gospel, Matthew 19:16-22

16 And now a man came to him and asked, ‘Master, what good deed must I do to possess eternal life?’

17 Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you ask me about what is good? There is one alone who is good. But if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.’

18 He said, ‘Which ones?’ Jesus replied, ‘These: You shall not kill. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false witness.19 Honour your father and your mother. You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’

20 The young man said to him, ‘I have kept all these. What more do I need to do?’

21 Jesus said, ‘If you wish to be perfect, go and sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’

22 But when the young man heard these words he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth.

no perfection without them

Religious people tend to believe that perfection is attainable through spiritual exercise of some sort. Jesus roughly dismisses any such idea. Perfection is communal, and comes through solidarity with the poor, and following Jesus as a disciple. This is not a message I want to hear, I would rather think that writing a daily bible blog is discipline enough (If you haven’t tried it don’t think it’s nothing!), but that’s not so. Perfection is more to do with how I respond to the Pakistan floods, than how I respond to the bible.